Toastmasters Club Helps Members Sharpen Speaking Skills

This year marks the international organization’s 100th year and the CNY club’s 70th year of operation

By Norah Machia

Sandy Cittadino was busy working in retail and restaurant management several years ago when an unexpected opportunity led her to meet a group of strangers who would later become lifelong friends.

At the time, a Syracuse University professor asked Cittadino to talk to her students and share a “parent’s perspective” on raising a child with autism. Her son, Joe, had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning type of autism.

As she began receiving more public speaking requests to raise awareness of autism, Cittadino turned to the local award-winning Empire Statesmen Toastmasters Club for help. The club meets weekly in Liverpool and offers members the option to join online.

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Its mission is to “provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leaderships skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.”

For Cittadino and many others, the Toastmasters club has not only helped with public speaking, but also with educational and leadership skills that apply to many types of communication.

“They taught me how to listen and respond” when speaking with employees — first giving praise, then discussing needed work improvements and always ending with a compliment, she said.

After club members give speeches, they are offered positive encouragement and tips on how to improve their presentations. “Each person is assigned a mentor at the beginning, but then every member becomes your mentor,” said Cittadino.

The group also unexpectedly supported her on a personal level. “I have made lifelong friends” through the organization, she said. Members of the local club have helped her son, who is now 32 years old, follow in his mother’s footsteps by joining Toastmasters.

When Joe was hired a few years ago to work with children in after-school programs, he needed help with transportation to the different schools. Because of the anxiety resulting from his autism, he didn’t drive. Several members of the Toastmasters club stepped in to give him rides.

“We are like a big family,” said Cittadino, noting many members still attend autism awareness events on behalf of her family. Her son has “built up his confidence” after joining the Toastmasters club, and now speaks to others about autism. “It has given us both a chance to be part of something together,” she added.

Sam Mehta, a certified management consultant, had been working in the corporate field and giving talks for years before joining Toastmasters. He had never heard of the organization until he was approached by a member of the audience attending one of his workshops for prospective customers, salespeople and marketers.

The audience member, an engineer, belonged to the local Toastmasters club and suggested to Mehta that he attend a club meeting. Mehta was unfamiliar with the organization and rather puzzled by the invitation, but he decided to give it a try.

That was 27 years ago and today, Mehta said it was one of the best decisions he has ever made. “It helped me fine-tune my presentation skills, but it’s about more than just getting up to speak,” he said. “It’s an organization known for leadership training.”

Mehta, who eventually became a Toastmasters district leader, has met hundreds of people through the organization and formed friendships with many of them. “You never get bored and you’re always learning from everyone else,” he said. “It’s a rich give-and-take program.”

Those who join Toastmasters also learn skills such as “impromptu speaking” or speaking about a newly introduced topic without any preparation, which helps to “expand your horizons of speech,” he said. The topics are not necessarily business-related and may even be light-hearted at times. For example, Mehta once led a group discussion on the topic “What would you do if you won the lottery?”

The Central New York club is part of Toastmasters International, which has approximately 270,000 members in more than 14,200 clubs in 148 countries. This year marks the international organization’s 100th year and the CNY club’s 70th year of operation.

The local club was originally started as a corporate one for General Electric employees in 1954, but was later opened to members of the public. The original name, The Electronic Toastmasters, was changed to the Empire Statesmen Toastmasters Club.

“People join for many reasons,” said Joshua Raut, the club’s vice president of membership. Many people are nervous about speaking in public, but it may be a requirement if they want to move into a management position. Others, like professionals from foreign countries, may need to polish their English language skills.

The Toastmasters club has also helped those interested in podcasting, Cittadino said. “Even though their image may not be seen, we can still teach people how to speak” during interviews, she added.

Many people who give presentations have never had them evaluated by an outside organization and that’s where Toastmasters can help, said Raut. The speeches may cover a range of topics, such as hobbies or family experiences. The club has members who are retired, but still want to share their expertise and knowledge with others.

“Each week, people share stories about their work or lives,” said Raut. “It’s a great way to get to know people.”

Public speaking is on many “top 10” lists of things that cause anxiety and a lot of people don’t think they can do it. But if you have ideas and can’t speak about them, that knowledge is lost, Raut added.

The Toastmasters organization helps people develop the skills needed to speak in front of others, and the more they do it, the more comfortable they become. When it comes to public speaking, “it’s like having a superpower,” he said.

For more information visit www.empirestatesmen.toastmastersclub.org